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Smith Arrives On Loan

Rams land England Under 21 defender on a season-long loan deal from Premier League Spurs.

Derby County have swooped to sign England Under-21 international defender Adam Smith on a season-long loan deal from Tottenham Hotspur.

Smith, who is 22, will spend the 2013/14 campaign at Pride Park Stadium after Derby struck a deal with the Premier League outfit late last week.

After seeing John Brayford move to top flight new-boys Cardiff City last week, the Rams have acted quickly to strengthen their backline ahead of the new season and Smith will compete alongside Wales Under 21 international Kieron Freeman for a starting berth at right-back.

Smith, who has 11 England Under-21 caps to his name, is in line to make his Rams debut in Sunday’s 2013/14 Sky Bet Championship season opener against Blackburn Rovers at Pride Park Stadium.

He is Manager Nigel Clough’s sixth signing of the transfer window after the arrivals of Lee Grant, Chris Martin, Johnny Russell, Craig Forsyth and John Eustace earlier this summer.

“He’s a young player with a lot of potential and we’ve been very impressed with what we’ve seen of him over the last few years.

“Whenever we’ve seen him in the Championship or on international duty he’s stood out as a very solid right back, and someone that likes to get forwards as well.

“As soon as we were aware John was going to leave last week we identified Adam as someone we would like to bring in, so to have the deal done within a matter of days is very pleasing and we’re sure he’ll be a good player for us.”

He added: “It also says a lot that Tottenham are prepared to let him spend the season with us.

“They’re obviously aware of our reputation when it comes to young players and there’s no doubt it’ll be a great experience for Adam coming here and playing a full season in the Championship.”

A product of Tottenham’s Academy system, Smith has over 100 Football League appearances to his name in the Championship, League 1 and League 2.

He has enjoyed loan spells at Wycombe Wanderers, Torquay United, AFC Bournemouth, MK Dons, Leeds United and Millwall, as part of his footballing education.

Smith has also made two first-team appearances for Spurs, once in the Premier League off the bench and from the start in the Capital One Cup.

He is highly regarded by the coaching team at White Hart Lane, who see his move to Pride Park as the next stage of his development.

Smith has also been capped by England Under 16, 17, 19, 20 and 21 level, and he also represented his country in the UEFA Under 21 Championships in Israel this summer.